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UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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ADDRESS 


DELIVERED    BEFORE   THE 


TWO    LITERARY    SOCIETIES 


UIIYEESITY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA, 


JUNE    5,     1850, 


HON.    JAMES    C.    DOBBIN. 


PUBLISHED     BY     ORDER     OF     THE     PHILAIVTHROPIC     SOCIETY. 


FAYETTEVILLE,  N".  C: 

PUBLISHED  BY  EDWARD  J.  HALE  &  SON. 
1850. 


Philanthro}}ic  Hall,  July  'Ibth,  1850. 
Sir: 

The  undersigned  haye  been  instructed  by  tlie  Pliilantliropic  Society,  to  re- 
turn its  grateful  tlianks  for  your  very  eloquent  and  instructive  Address,  deliv- 
ered before  the  two  Literary  Societies  of  the  University,  on  tlie  day  preceding 
the  Annual  Commencement,  and  to  request  a  copy  for  j^ublication. 

Permit  the  Committee,  Sir,  in  apprising  you  of  this  resolution  of  the  Society, 
to  express  the  hope  that  you  will  comply  vrith  its  earnest  wishes. 
With  high  respect, 

Your  obedient  servants, 

D.  M.  Carter,  'i 

B.  W.  L.  Claiborne,  >  Committee, 
W.  C.  AVhitaker,       5 
Hon.  James  C.  Dobbin, 


Fayetteville,  August  8rd,  1850. 
Gentlemen  : 

I  have  just  received  your  communication,  informing  me  of  the  resolution  of 
the  Philanthropic  Society,  requesting  a  copy  of  the  Address  I  delivered  before 
the  two  Literary  Societies  at  the  University,  on  the  day  preceding  the  last 
Commencement. 

I  am  conscious  that  the  Address  was  necessarily  prepared  in  too  much  haste, 
and  tliat  it  really  has  not  merits  sufl&cient  to  justify  the  expense  incurred  in  its 
publication.  In  accordance,  however,  with  established  usage,  I  submit  it  to  the 
discretion  of  the  Society,  and  enclose  you  a  copy. 

Permit  me  to  avail  myself  of  the  occasion  to  assure  the  Society  of  my  gratifi- 
cation at  their  generous  notice  of  the  Address,  and  to  tender  you  personally  my 
thanks  for  the  manner  in  which  you  have  communicated  its  resolution. 
I  am,  Gentlemen,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  C.  Dobbin, 
Messrs.  D.  M.  Carter, 

B.  W.  L.  Claiborne, 
W.  C.  Whitaker, 


ADDRESS. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Dialectic  and  Philanthropic  Societies — 

In  undertaking  tlie  task  -wliicli  your  generous  solicitation 
has  imposed,  I  cannot  forego  tlie  expression  of  unaffected  re- 
gret, tkat  the  lot  kas  not  fallen  on  one  more  capable  of  contri- 
buting to  tke  entertainment  of  tkose  wko  come  to  partake  of 
tke  Annual  Literary  Festival  of  our  time-konored  University. 

Not  many  years  ago  it  was  my  lot  to  form  one  of  tke  restless 
tkrong  of  College  youtk,  wko,  witk  buoyant  kopes  and  eager 
expectation,  sat  as  anxious  ksteners,  and  drank  in  witk  gener- 
ous confidence  and  affectionate  admiration,  tkose  moral  lessons, 
tkose  encouraging  maxuns,  tkose  warning  admonitions,  so  elo- 
quently, so  impressively  addressed  to  us,  by  tke  great,  tke  good, 
and  tke  lamented  Gastox.  Well  do  I  remember  tkat  look  of 
earnest  and  keartfelt  sincerity,  witk  wkick  tkat  venerable  man 
sougkt  to  teack  us,  tkat  "Happiness  as  well  as  greatness,  en- 
joyment as  well  as  renown,  kave  no  friends  so  sure  as  Integ- 
rity, Diligence,  and  Independence;"  tkat  "we  are  not  placed 
-kere  to  waste  our  days  in  wanton  riot  or  inglorious  ease,  mtk 
appetites  perpetually  gratified  and  never  palled,  exempted  from 
all  care  and  sokcitude,  witk  life  ever  fresk  and  joys  ever  new." 
Well  do  I  remember  (and  may  none  of  us  ever  forget)  tkat 
tkrilkng,  keart-moving  burst  of  patriotic  eloquence,  witk  wkick 
ke  keld  up  to  our  gaze,  tke  gloomy  picture  of  a  Union  dissolved, 
tke  sundered,  bleeding  kmbs  of  a  once  gigantic  body,  instinct 


\vdtb.  life  and  Ileal  til  and  vigor;  Ms  prond  exultation  tliat  "still 
we  are  great,  glorious,  united  and  free ;" — ^liis  toucliing  appeal 
to  tlie  youtli  tlien  before  him,  that  surely  "such  a  country  and 
such  a  constitution  have  claims  which  cannot  be  disregarded." 
That  eloquent  lesson  is  now  familiar  to  you  all,  and  a  student 
would  blush  not  to  know  it  by  heart.  That  beloved  statesman 
is  now  beneath  the  sod.  His  State  mourns  his  loss,  and  his 
memory  will  ever  be  cherished  by  all  who  appreciate  virtue, 
love  excellence,  and  admire  learning.  He  spoke  the  experience 
of  one  who  had  nearly  completed  the  journey  of  life,  and  had 
himself  played  no  humble  part  in  the  race  of  honorable  ambi- 
tion. 

He  who  noio  comes  at  your  bidding,  hath  made  but  little 
way  in  his  pilgrimage,  and  might  well  be  content  to  return 
from  the  dust  and  bustle  and  turmoil  of  a  thus  far  busy  hfe, 
for  the  first  time  to  his  Alma  Mater — this  starting  point  in  the 
journey — and  assure  you  who  have  kindly  invited  hmi,  and 
who  are  now  panting  to  enter  on  "life's  fitful  course,"  that 
thus  far  he  hath  found  the  maxims  of  that  lamented  statesman 
to  be  founded  in  true  wisdom — that  "  Integrity"  is  the  crown- 
ing virtue — that  "Labour  is  not  more  the  duty  than  the  bles- 
sing of  man" — that  our  beloved  country  does  present  to  "  the 
eyes,  the  hopes,  and  gratitude  of  man,  a  picture  as  lovely  and 
brilhant"  as  he  painted  it  in  his  loftiest  declamation.  And 
well  might  I  now  add,  that  country,  now — more  than  ever  now 
— challenges  all  your  wisdom,  all  your  virtue,  all  your  patriot- 
ism, to  uphold  and  maintain  it;  to  save  it  from  the  angry 
strifes  of  the  impetuous  and  the  rash — the  mischievous  machina- 
tions of  the  ambitious  and  the  selfish — ^the  reckless  madness  of 
misguided  fanaticism. 

But,  my  young  friends,  while  it  would  be  vain  repetition  of 
what  others  have  done  so  well  before,  were  I  to  indulge  in  the 
effort  to  point  out  the  dangers  that  ever  beset  impetuous  youth 
in  the  perilous  voyage  of  life : — while  it  would  be  presumption 
in  me  to  inculcate  here  the  teachings  of  virtue,  and  to  persuade 
you  to  tread  the  paths^of  morality,  in  the  presence  of  the  wise 
men  from  whose  lips  you  have  been  daily  wont  to  catch  the 


piu^est  lessons; — it  may  not  be  inappropriate,  nor  entirely  un- 
profitable, on  tliis  spot,  consecrated  to  learning,  and  among 
those  wlio  liave  come  to  evince  tlieir  devotion  to  tlie  sacred 
cause — and  in  tliis,  if  not  golden  at  least  gold-searcMng  era,  to 
re-assert  tlie  superiority  of  mind  over  matter — to  impress  afresh 
on  the  minds  of  the  youth  here  present,  that  the  highly  culti- 
vated intellect  is  the  wealth  at  last  to  secure  real  indepen- 
dence— to  purchase,  as  fiir  as  frail  mortals  can,  true  happiness 
in  this  world  below.  That  El  Dorado  that  floated  like  a  vision 
before  the  dreamy  enthusiasts  of  other  tmies,  and  haunted  the 
imaginations  of  the  indolent,  who  loved  to  fancy  some  fabulous 
land  where  the  glittering  dust  grew  so  luxuriantly  that  ease 
and  sloth  could  laugh  at  the  ancient  toils  of  industry  and  fru- 
gality, in  our  favoured  day,  by  too  many  is  conceived  to  have 
been  at  last  discovered.  And  even  in  this  age  of  progTess, 
when  old  emj^ires  have  been  made  to  tremble  under  the  convul- 
sive throes  of  a  libert^'-seehing  populace — when  the  world  is 
startled  by  the  astonishing  achievements  of  the  human  mind  in 
fields  hitherto  unexplored, — when  genius,  with  the  Printing 
Press  as  her  engine,  hath  scattered  with  a  lavish  hand  her  rich 
productions  to  instruct,  to  entertain,  and  to  amuse; — yet  so 
wondrous  are  the  tales  of  golden  treasures  leaping  into  the  lap 
of  the  traveller  beyond  the  mountains,  by  a  magic  that  mocks 
at  the  homely  labours  our  fathers  taught  us,  that  too  many  of 
our  ingenuous,  educated  youth,  captivated  with  the  gilded 
charms,  the  glitter  and  tinsel  and  proud  parade  of  wealth — 
tiring  in  their  slow  pursuits  of  learning,  to  which  "no  royal 
road"  hath  yet  been  found,  forget  for  awhile  that  the  well  stored 
mind  is  better  far  than  the  overflowing  coffers — that  the  low, 
groveling,  fleeting  pleasures  of  wealth,  are  literally  but  dust  in 
the  balance,  compared  with  the  pure,  ennobling  enjoyments  of 
intellect ; — forget  that  Inspiration  hath  said,  "  amid  all  thy  get- 
tings,  get  understanding,"  and  that  ^^ivisdomh  ways  are  ways  of 
pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  peace;" — -forget  the  picture  of 
the  unsatisfying  character  of  sordid  lucre,  so  vividly  drawn  by 
Goldsmith — 


"  As  some  lone  miser,  visiting  his  store, 
Bends  at  liis  treasure,  counts,  recounts  it  o'er  ; 
Hoards  after  hoards  his  rising  raptures  fill ; 
Yet,  still  he  sighs,  for  hoards  are  wanting  still ;" — 

forget  the  trutli  so  forcibly  presented  by  Young — ■ 

"  Soon  as  this  feeble  pulse,  which  leaps  so  long, 

Almost  by  miracle,  is  tired  of  play, 

Like  rubbish,  from  disploding  engines  thrown, 

Our  magazine  of  hoarded  trifles  fly  ; 

Fly  divers  :  fly  to  foreigners,  to  foes, — 

New  masters  court,  and  call  the  former  fools ; 

(How  justly,)  for  dependence  on  their  stay 

Wide  scatter,  first  our  playthings,  then  our  dust." 

Let  US  then,  in  withdrawing  for  a  day  or  two  from  the  sterner 
demands,  and  trying  struggles,  and  petty  strifes  of  every  day 
life — while  once  more  partaking  of  this  fountain  head  of  learn- 
ing, and  breathing  the  refreshing  atmosphere  of  this  classic  re- 
treat, contemplate  anew  the  superior  pleasures,  the  superior  ad- 
vantages, (not  forgetting  the  higher  responsibilities,)  of  the  man  of 
cultivated  mind,  over  those  who  grope  their  way  in  untutored 
blindness — dull  and  inanimate  amid  the  dazzhng  triumphs  of 
genius, — insensible  to  the  instructive  beauties  of  nature, — 
strangers  to  the  captivating  charms  of  pohte  literature, — 

"  Born  capable  indeed  of  heavenly  truth, 
But  down  to  latest  age  from  earliest  youth. 
Their  mind  a  wilderness,  through  want  of  care. 
The  plough  of  wisdom  never  entering  there." 

I  propose  not,  however,  to  speak  to-day  of  the  mere  intrinsic 
value  of  education — its  moral  tendency — its  incalculable  impor- 
tance ; — but  of  the  exalted  pleasures  of  cultivated  taste,  the  ex- 
quisite enjojTiients  of  him  who  can  luxuriate  in  the  green  pas- 
tures and  amid  the  fragrant  flowers  of  elegant  Literature,  with 
such  companions  as  Addison,  and  Johnson,  and  Dryden,  and 
Milton,  and  Shakspeare ;  who  loves  to  linger  anon  in  the  sub- 
limer  departments  of  Science,  and  behold  its  developments 
from  the  remote  period  of  the  wonder-struck  Chaldean  Shep- 
herd to  the  time  of  the  philosophic  Newton ;  who  dehghts  to  wan- 


dcr  tlirougli  tlie  instructive  pages  of  nistoiy,  aucl  learn  and  appre- 
ciate its  teacliiugs,  from  "man's  first  disobedience"  to  liis  pres- 
ent position,  after  centuries  of  revolutions  and  clianges ;  wlio 
keeps  tlie  store-liouse  of  liis  mind  well  furnislred  witli  those  in- 
tellectual treasures,  begetting  that  genuine  independence  that 
keeps  its  master  self-sustained  amid  the  distractions  of  adversity 
and  the  feebleness  of  age, — an  independence,  elevated  high 
above  that  misnamed  independence,  the  spurious  offspring  of 
wealth,  fleeting  as  the  treasures  that  beget  it,  which  "moth 
and  rust"  are  sure  to  corrupt  and  "  thieves  break  through  and 
steal." 

"  Knowledge  is  power,"  is  the  trite  and  ancient  maxim ;  but 
shall  it  be  sought  after  merely  because  it  is  power?  "Learn- 
ing is  useful,"  and  although  we  live  in  a  utilitarian  age,  shall 
it  be  commended  merely  because  it  can  be  turned  to  a  good  ac- 
count ?  become  profitable  by  way  of  speculation,  and  for  the 
virtue  it  may  possess  of  giving  one  man  an  advantage  over  his 
neighbour  who  hath  it  not?  Shall  Literature  be  favoured 
merely  because  it  adorns  its  votary  and  lends  a  finish,  a  charm, 
an  elegance,  to  his  productions  ?  Shall  Astronomy  be  looked 
into  merely  because,  forsooth,  an  acquaintance  with  the  stars 
may  assist  the  mariner  as  he  ploughs  through  the  trackless 
waters  of  the  ocean  ?  Or  may  we  be  pardoned  for  presenting 
to  the  young  mind,  Science,  Literature,  Learning,  and  History, 
as  full  of  attractions — worthy  of  all  their  wooing — because  of 
their  intrinsic  loveliness- — because  of  the  magic  charm  about 
them  that  is  sure  to  impart  to  their  assiduous  votary  an  exqui- 
site satisfaction,  worth  far  more  than  the  price  of  drudgery  and 
time  required  to  obtain  them. 

Literature,  Polite  Literature !  What  pencil  can  paint  in  too 
glowing  and  fascinating  colors — in  tints  too  delicate  and  pleas- 
ino- — its  bewitchino;  loveliness,  its  heart-stirring  charms,  its  re- 
finino;,  softenino-  elevatino-  influences?  Who  can  borrow  from 
its  richest  ornaments  expressions  of  adequate  force — figures  of 
sufficient  beauty — to  illustrate  to  the  young  mind  its  genuine 
character  ?  Who  is  not  even  bemldered  and  embarrassed,  to 
attempt  the  selection  of  even  specimen  flowers  in  its  vast  field, 


10 

decorated  with,  clusters  of  every  liue,  and  redolent  witli  sweet- 
est fi-agrance  ?  AYlio  is  not  confused  in  tlie  tlirong  of  illustri- 
ous names  tliat  break  upon  tlie  vision,  as  lie  looks  to  mark  out 
the  clioice  S^Dirits  wlio  kave  lent  tlieir  genius  to  posterity  for 
its  entertainment  and  instruction  ?  And  witliout  recurring  to 
remote  periods,  wliat  educated  mind  liatk  not  feasted  on  tke 
sumptuous  rej)asts  served  up  by  literary  epicures  even  in  our 
own  days?  And  altliougli  tlie  severe  moralist,  in  his  rigid 
scrutiny  to  "mark  iniquity,"  may  liere  and  there  find  much  to 
carp  at,  yet  who  hath  not  borrowed  many  a  moment  of  joy 
from  the  exquisite  genius  of  Scott?  Who  hath  not  strolled 
with  delight  over  the  wild  heath,  and  ragged  cliff,  and  along 
the  quiet  lakes,  and  broken  towers,  and  ivy-mantled  castles, — 
consecrated — ^touched  with  enchantment — by  the  magic  wand 
of  that  wizard  of  the  North ; — and  felt  that  they  were  resting 
places  in  our  pilgrimage  here  below — where  Imagination  could 
triumph  awhile  over  busy  memory,  and  chase  away  the  remem- 
brance of  envjangs,  and  bickerings,  and  jealousies,  and  check 
the  workings  of  sorded  cupidity  and  ungenerous  aims  that  so 
often,  and  alas  too  often,  poison  life's  sweetest  moments,  and 
fling  the  blighting  mildew  on  Hope's  most  cherished  flowers  ? 
How  oft  have  the  sweeter  sounds  of  his  minstrel  harp  touched 
the  heart  of  many  a  careworn  victim  of  despondency  and  mis- 
fortune, till  by  their  melting  cadence, 

"  The  present  scene — the  future  lot — 
His  toils — his  wants,  were  all  forgot, 
Cold  diffidence,  and  age's  frost. 
In  the  full  tide  of  Song  were  lost." 

But  time  would  fail  us  to-day,  were  I  to  invite  you  to  hn- 
ger  amid  the  beautiful  gems  that  lie  scattered  in  rich  profusion 
through  the  works  of  even  this  man  of  Letters.  And  in  this 
age  when  the  world  is  flooded  with  the  trashy  and  vicious  ebul- 
litions of  the  penny-seeking  novehst — if  the  mind  will  seek 
sport  and  recreation  in  works  of  fiction,  Ms  are  those  that  may 
be  the  more  safely  resorted  to,  as  well  for  chaste  and  simple 
diction,  as  for  the  sui'e  triumph  that  virtue  is  ever  made  to  win 
over  vice.     Indeed  it  is  no  little  pleasure  to  intellects  of  no 


11 

mean  cast,  to  mingle  Avitli  liis  characters,  so  strikingly  and  at 
times  iustrnctively  illnstrativc  of  liuman  nature,  to  admire  even 
tlic  toucliing  specimen  of  female  devotion  in  tlie  obscure  Jean- 
nie  Deans,  pleading  with  greatness  in  behalf  of  misfortune; — 
to  smile  over  the  amusing  enthusiasm  of  Old  Buck  for  Roman 
camps  and  black  letter ; — to  love  the  sweetness  of  Eebecca ; — 
to  almost  see  and  hear  the  labors  of  Old  Mortality  in  his  sad 
efforts  to  decypher  moss-grown  inscriptions ; — to  associate  with 
the  thousand  characters  exhibiting  in  striking  relief  a  vivid 
picture  of  the  passions  and  emotions  that  elevate,  and  adorn, 
and  debase  man,  Avhile  playing  his  part  on  this  world's  great 
stage. 

"What  hours  of  pure  mental  recreation  are  lost  to  those  who 
are  content  to  grow  up  in  indolent  ease,  heedless  of  a  taste  for 
Elegant  Literature ;  who  have  never  relished  the  pure  diction 
of  Drj'den,  the  sublime  sentiments  of  Milton,  the  touching  melo- 
dies of  Moore,  the  instructive  Essays  of  Addison,  the  glowing 
pages  of  Macaulay,  the  elegant  works  of  our  own  Irving,  rich 
and  iDrilliant  as  so  much  Literary  embroidery,  the  still  loftier 
productions  of  Shakspeare,  of  whom  it  hath  been  said,  "He  is 
the  tallest  and  most  graceful  of  them  all,  and  will  himself  alone 
do,  when  his  reader  may  feel  under  a  cloud  of  gloom  and  say, 
like  his  own  ]\facbeth, 

"  My  way  of  life  is  fallen  iuto  the  sear, 
The  yellow  leaf;  and  that  which  accompanies 
Old  age,  as  honors — troops  of  friends — 
I  must  not  look  to  have." 

But  this  species  of  intellectual  exercise  may  be  viewed  as  the 
mere  holiday  sports  of  the  active  mind,  gamboling  and  frolick- 
ing in  the  fields  of  fiction  and  romance,  with  airy  beings  for  as- 
sociates, conjured  into  shaj^e  and  life  by  the  creative  spirit  of 
poetic  genius. 

But  while  glancing,  even  though  slightly,  at  the  attractions 
of  Literature,  it  may  be  not  deemed  out  of  place  to  speak  a 
word  of  the  sublimity  and  beauty  of  the  Literature  of  the  Bi- 
ble, which  commends  its  study  to  the  man  of  cultivated  taste, 
however  disinclined  he  may  be  to  practice  its  holy  precepts. 


12 

Truly  liatli  it  been  said  by  Sir  Wm.  Jones,  (himself  no  common 
soldier  in  the  cause  of  learning,)  that  "the  scriptures  contain,  in- 
dependent of  a  divine  origin,  more  true  sublimity,  more  ex- 
quisite beauty,  finer  strains  of  poetry  and  eloquence,  than  could 
be  collected  within  the  same  compass  from  all  other  books 
ever  composed  in  any  age  or  any  idiom."  New  beauties  are 
developed  to  the  reader  who  has  the  heart  to  appreciate  its 
heaven-born  truths,  and  the  mind  to  appreciate  the  touching 
simj)licity  and  gorgeous  imagery  in  which  they  are  presented 
by  inspired  pensmen,  apostles  and  prophets.  "What  can  sur- 
pass the  touching  stories  of  patriarchal  simplicity  that  tell  of 
Laban  and  of  Jacob— of  Euth  and  of  Naomi — of  Joseph  and 
his  brethren  ?  "What  can  approach  the  sublimity  of  Isaiah  and 
Jeremiah  ?  And  if  the  thoughtful  searcher  after  truth  desires 
to  learn  where  shall  true  wisdom  be  found,  let  him  admire  and 
tremble,  and  learn  as  he  reads — 

"  There  is  a  j)ath  which  no  fowl  knoweth,  and  which  the  vul- 
ture's eye  hath  not  seen :  the  lion's  whelps  have  not  trodden  it. 
He  putteth  forth  his  hand  upon  the  rock :  he  overturneth  the 
mountains  by  the  roots :  he  cutteth  out  rivers  among  the  rocks, 
and  his  eye  seeth  every  precious  thing.  He  bindeth  the  floods 
from  overflowing,  and  the  thing  that  is  hid  bringeth  he  forth  to 
light.  But  where  shall  wisdom  be  found  ?  and  where  is  the 
place  of  understanding  ?  Destruction  and  Death  say  we  have 
heard  the  fame  thereof  with  our  ears.  God  understandeth  the 
way  thereof^  and  He  knoweth  the  place  thereof  When  He 
made  a  decree  for  the  rain,  and  a  way  for  the  lightning  of  the 
thunder,  then  did  He  see  it  and  declare  it.  And  unto  man  He 
said,  Behold  the  fear  of  the  Lord^  that  is  wisdom^  and  to  depart  from 
evil  is  understanding!'^ 

But  the  sources  of  enjoyment  to  the  man  of  educated  mind 
are  far  from  being  scanty.  The  field  is  boundless.  His  may 
be  the  teachings  of  Philosophy,  that  enable  him  to  penetrate 
the  mysterious  Laws  of  the  physical  and  moral  universe : — the 
teachings  of  History,  that  present  in  a  vivid  picture  to  the  eye 
the  follies  and  fortunes  of  man : — the  charms  of  Eloquence,  by 
the  powers  of  which  at  one  moment  the  terrors  of  bloody  revo- 


13 

lutions  arc  roused,  and  the  mild  pursuits  of  peace  and  liberty 
secured  at  another.  And  yet  liow  often  is  |)arental  hope  blight- 
ed by  the  infatuation  of  many  a  generous  youth,  who  starts 
out  well  in  the  race,  but  by  the  seductive  allurements  of  vice, 
the  lulling  whispers  of  indolence,  or  the  giddy  longing  after 
less  substantial  eujoyments,  he  soon  "cares  for  none  of  these 
things,"  pants  after  "  the  dust  of  earth,"  and  as  Lord  Bacon 
discourses  in  his  Errors  of  Learning,  "allows  it  to  divert  and  in- 
terrupt the  prosecution  and  advancement  of  knowledge,  like 
unto  the  golden  ball  thrown  before  Atlanta,  which,  while  she 
goeth  aside  and  stoopeth  to  take  up,  the  race  is  hindered."  "  De- 
clinat,  cursus,  aurmnque  volubile  tollit."  Need  I  venture  here 
to  address  a  word  on  the  advantages  which  the  reflecting  and 
educated  man  gathers  from  the  study  of  history  ?  IIoav  in- 
structive to  the  statesman,  how  profitable  to  the  mere  inquisi- 
tive mind,  are  the  teachings  of  history,  whose  lessons  in  other 
times  have  been  taught  to  us  by  scholars  of  eminence,  but  in 
our  days  have  come  to  us  clothed  in  the  graceful  drapery 
thrown  around  them  by  the  genius  of  a  Macaulay,  an  Alison, 
a  Prescott,  a  Bancroft,  and  an  Irving,  who  lend  to  history  the 
thrilling  interest  of  romance  without  despoiling  it  of  its  truth- 
fulness !  What  a  field  is  there  presented  for  the  most  expand- 
ed intellects  to  traverse — to  behold  the  rise  and  progress,  and 
the  splendor,  decline  and  downfall  of  kingdoms,  republics, 
proud  empires,  and  magnificent  cities — the  sad  havoc  of  war, — 
the  genial  influence  of  j)eace  ;  to  gather  lessons  fi-om  this  "Phi- 
losophy teaching  by  example" — to  stimulate  enterprise,  to  en- 
coTU-age  laudable  ambition,  to  animate  the  desponcUng,  to  re- 
buke vain-glorious  pride,  to  admonish  aspiring,  boastful  man 
of  "  what  shadows  we  are,  and  what  shadows  we  pursue  I"  How 
fall  of  lessons  indeed  is  man's  past  history  of  man  ?  To  the 
proud  man,  whose  restless  spirit  is  for  a  moment  stirred  up 
with  ambitious  aims,  and  who  frets  and  chafes  in  discontent 
with  the  dull  monotony  of  calm  and  peaceful  life,  what  a 
volume  of  admonition  is  contained  in  the  magic  words,  "  Aus- 
terlitz,"  "  Marengo,"  "  Waterloo,"  "  St.  Helena !"  For  he  who 
by  one  of  history's  startling  pages,  is  bewildered  and  fired  by 


14 

tlie  dazzling  meridian  brilliancy  of  the  sun  of  Austerlitz  sM- 
ning  on  proud  tropliies  and  glistering  prizes  and  a  miglitj 
Chieftain,  is  calmed  into  thoughtful  meditation  as  another 
chapter  soon  2:)oints  him  to  that  sun  setting  in  darkness  and 
gloom,  and  the  proud  conqueror  a  prisoner  on  a  rocky  Isle  of 
the  ocean !  Docs  the  thoughtful  j^outh  whose  heart  beats  with 
throbbings  of  laudable  ambition,  seek  to  learn  where  may  be 
discovered  an  example  of  true  greatness?  History  presents 
another  chapter,  that  recites  the  romantic  story  of  an  infant 
colony  once  planted  in  a  remote  wilderness.  They  were  called 
"Pilgrims,"  seeking  for  liberty,  with  Puritan  enthusiasm. 
Bright  visions  of  bliss,  and  of  unalloyed  freedom,  led  them  on, 
and  whispered  the  hope  that  the  shafts  of  oppression  could 
hardly  reach  them  across  the  mighty  ocean,  however  strong 
the  arm  that  aimed  them.  But  every  gale  that  swept  across 
that  ocean  came  laden  with  tidings  that  galled  and  oppressed, 
till  an  unhappy  people  began  to  think  of  Independence,  and  to 
seek  a  fit  leader  to  animate  their  drooping  hopes  and  dispel 
the  mists  that  hung  around  them.  In  that  eventful  crisis, 
there  arose  among  them  a  man  whose  virtues  shone  forth  with 
a  lustre  whose  effulgence  attracted  every  beholder,  whose 
stern  courage  quailed  not  in  the  darkest  hour  of  the  storm, 
whose  wisdom  was  profound  beyond  all  his  compeers ;  whose 
praj'ers  were  sent  up  to  that  God  who  sees  that  "  the  race  is 
not  always  to  the  swift  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong."  That 
man  became  that  colony's  leader.  And  he  triumphed;  and 
the  world  was  filled  with  his  glory.  And  now,  to  him  who 
asks  where  shall  the  model  of  true  greatness  be  found,  History 
responds,  and  points  to  one  name^  and  that  name  is  "Washing- 
ton," the  "Father  of  his  Country!"  And  truly  what  a  moral 
is  taught  to  the  young  men  of  America  by  this  illustrious 
chapter  in  history,  which  says,  "  Ye  who  aspire  to  read  your 
history  in  a  nation's  eyes,"  and  seek  to  tread  the  path  that 
leads  to  true  glory,  and  leave  behind  you  a  monument  of  fame, 
high  and  deep  and  solid  and  enduring,  come  read  the  life  of 
one  who  lifted  himself  above  the  poisonous  malaria  of  Ioav  in- 
trigue and  ignoble  strife,  who  practised  virtue,  reverenced  God, 
loved  his  country — come  read  the  history  of  Washington  I 


16 

But  among  tlie  varied  teacliings  of  History,  wliat  a  briglit 
page  is  that  whicli  reveals  the  wonderful  influence  of  tlie  in- 
troduction of  Christianity  into  the  world  ? — how  man  has  been 
regenerated  and  nations  elevated  by  its  heavenly  influence — 
how  other  systems  have  for  a  season  flung  their  flickering,  de- 
ceptive light  upon  the  misguided,  and  gone  out  like  fleeting 
meteors,  while  Christianity  still  continues  to  shed  its  jyura  and 
genial  radiance,  with  steady  and  increasing  brightness,  to  com- 
fort and  bless  fallen  man ; — how  under  its  beui'licent  operation 
woman  has  been  gently  elevated  from  the  humiliation  to  which 
infidelity  had  consigned  her,  to  her  true  position,  until  now, 
in  return,  she  not  only  blesses  and  adorns  and  elevates,  but  by 
the  rich  and  sparkling  poetry  of  a  Mrs.  Hemans,  the  powerful 
dramatic  works  of  a  Joanna  Baillie,  the  beautiful  and  elegant 
and  touching  productions  of  a  Mrs.  Opie,  and  Miss  Edgworth, 
and  jMrs.  Sigourney,  and  a  bright  galaxy  of  others,  the  genius 
of  "Woman  has  truly  embellished  the  literature  of  the  age,  with 
gems  that  glitter  among  the  most  dazzling  that  glow  on  its 
pages. 

But  in  the  long  catalogue  of  accomplishments  that  impart 
pleasure  and  secui-e  influence  to  the  educated  mind,  there  is  per- 
haps none  more  entitled  to  your  assiduous  cultivation,  than  the 
art  of  Eloquence.  'Tis  true  the  art  of  Printing  hath  encroached 
much  on  its  province,  and  the  press  now  daily  sends  forth  ora- 
tions that  fly  on  the  mngs  of  the  wind  and  the  lightning's 
wires  from  the  centre  to  the  circumference  of  our  wide-spread 
Republic.  Yet  in  all  countries  it  has  ever  been  the  most  po- 
tent art  for  effective  operations  on  the  heart  and  on  the  mind; 
and  under  our  republican  government,  where  the  popular  fea- 
ture so  powerfully  predominates, — where  the  struggle  for  in- 
creased liberty  and  the  wakeful  jealousy  of  power  are  ever 
animating  the  masses, — where  every  citizen  feels  that  by  ge- 
nius and  industry  he  can  cut  out  his  own  pathway  from  the 
lowest  obscurity  to  the  most  distinguished  eminence,  and  the 
voice  of  the  difl&dent  school  boy  of  hmublest  lot  may  in  his 
manhood  be  heard  to  electrify  the  Senate  and  teach  wisdom  in 
the  halls  of  Justice, — in  such  a  Country  the  rhetorical  art  has 


16 

peculiar  claims  upon  tlic  consideration  of  him  wlio  aspires  to 
fame,  and  influence.  For  not  only  lias  it  been  written,  "  Magna 
eloquentia  sicut  flamma  materia  alitur  a  motibus  excitatur^  urendo 
darercit^''  but  also,  '■''  Pads  comes  otiique  sociaetjara  bene  constitu- 
ta£  repuhlicae  alumna  eloquentia.''''  It  is  an  art  by  wliicliman  can 
successfully  play  upon  tlie  passions  of  liis  fellow  man ; — at  one 
moment  startle  with,  liis  brilliant  flashes,  and  annihilate  with 
his  withering  sarcasm ;  at  another  melt  the  heart  with  his 
touching  pathos  and  win  the  admiration  by  those  persuasive 
tones  and  thrilling  appeals  that  lend  effectiveness  to  the  most 
cogent  reasoning  and  proclaim  the  triumph  of  true  eloquence. 
How  oft  indeed,  when  the  fires  of  liberty  have  been  well  nigh 
extinguished,  and  her  votaries  sunk  in  the  depths  of  sadness 
and  despair,  hath  Eloquence  stepped  forth  to  reanimate  the 
drooping  and  to  rekindle  the  smothered  fires  into  a  brighter 
blaze  ?  How  often  has  Eloquence  checked  the  desolations  of 
war, — protected  the  blessings  of  peace, — encouraged  the  arts, 
and  touched  the  chords  of  a  thousand  hearts  in  the  holy  cause 
of  religion  and  piety  ? 

Your  earliest  readings  tell  of  its  powers.  It  was  Grecian 
eloquence  that  gave  her  orators  the  sway  over  the  multitude, 
that  roused  all  Greece  by  its  thunders  to  rally  and  resist  the 
encroachments  of  her  Macedonian  enemy,  and  gave  the  great 
master  of  Eloquence  a  renown  that  two  thousand  years  have 
only  increased.  It  is  Eoman  Eloquence  that  will  ever  perpet- 
uate the  glory  of  the  Eternal  City.  It  is  British  Eloquence 
that  has  thrown  a  halo  around  the  Sea-grit  Isle,  that  will  last 
when  the  future  traveller  will  wander  amid  the  ruins  of  her 
fallen  grandeur.  Burke  and  Chatham,  Pitt  and  Fox,  and  Sheri- 
dan and  Grattan  and  Erskine,  are  names  whose  immortality 
attest  the  powers  of  Eloquence,  illustrated  by  their  brilliant 
efforts  in  struggles  for  their  country's  glory,  or  in  the  attain- 
ment of  laurels  in  the  race  of  personal  ambition.  What  did 
not  American  Eloquence  achieve,  when  Henry,  and  Adams, 
and  Ames  spoke  ?  what  hath  it  not  since  achieved  in  many  a 
memorable  era  in  our  young  Republic's  history  ? 

And  if  this  be  the  art  that  may  thus  be  triumphantly  exerted 


17 

to  protect  liberty,  to  disseminate  the  Uos|ic],  tt.i  idead  i'or  imio- 
cence,  to  win  immortality,  can  its  attainment  be  too  sedulously 
courted,  and  its  true  characteristics  too  cautiously  pointed  out  ? 
And  this  most  noble  art  has  been  mastered  1:)y  those  whose 
mighty  intellects  struggled  under  difhculties  and  impediments 
the  most  discouraging.  The  great  master  of  Eloquence  is  the 
happiest  illustration  of  the  trite  maxim,  "Labor  omnia  vincit." 
He  trusted  not  to  the  inspiration  of  genius;  he  atfected  no 
shame  under  the  charge  that  his  orations  smelt  of  the  lamp,  for 
^vell  he  knew,  and  in  himself  exemplilied,  the  truth,  that  while 
he  wdio  trusts  to  the  inspiration  of  the  moment  often  astonishes 
with  his  brilliant  displays,  he  who  brings  to  his  aid  the  allies 
that  Labor  is  sure  to  enlist,  rarely  fails  of  a  triumph.  The 
tlashy  parade  of  the  orator  who  scorns  to  permit  his  genius  to 
stoop  to  the  drudgery  of  labor,  may  at  times  win  a  shout  ofap- 
l^lause  as  fleeting  as  the  breath  that  uttered  it ;  but  he  who  as- 
pires to  Avin  laiu'els  worth  wearing — to  promote  his  country's 
glory — to  advance  great  principles — to  secure  a  controlling  in- 
fluence with  his  fellows, — will  soon  find  that  well  turned  sen- 
tences and  pompous  verbiage  are  far  from  being  the  chief  ele- 
ments of  true  Eloquence,  and  are  very  properly  estimated  by 
those  too  whose  rough  exterior  is  too  ofteu  misjudged  to  be 
the  evidence  of  the  obtuse  mind,  but  who  often  know  better 
than  the  conceited  orator  himself,  that  what  he  hath  spoken  is 
often  a  "  tale  told  by  an  idiot,  full  of  sound  and  fury,  and  sig- 
nifying nothing."  But  above  all,  let  it  ever  be  remembered, 
that  at  last  virtue  and  morality  can  alone  inspire  confidence 
and  give  to  Eloquence  its  magic  charm.  Fox  was  the  British 
'  orator  whose  lucid  reasoning,  powerful  declamation,  and  pro- 
:  found  statesmanship,  gave  him  immortal  fame ;  but  the  admin - 
:  istration  of  his  illustrious  rival  Pitt  rarely  yielded  to  the  terri- 
ble batteries  of  Fox's  Eloquence ; — for  history  weeps  over  the 
melancholy  truth,  that  Fox,  with  all  his  eloquence,  lacked  that 
1  pure  morality,  that  inflexible  virtue,  -wdthout  which,  there  yet 
has  not  been,  nor  ever  can  be,  enduring  influence. 

But  in  the  short  compass  of  an  Address,  no  power  of  con- 
densation is  adequate  to  the  task  of  presenting  more  than  the 
i 


1>^ 

most  meagre  picture  uf  the  aources  of  either  the  enjoyment  or 
influence  of  the  cultivated  mind.  The  vaat  field  lies  before 
you,  teeming  Avith  rich  and  delicious  fruits,  that  cluster  luxuri- 
antly at  every  step,  grateful  to  the  taste,  pleasant  to  the  sight, 
nourishing  to  the  mind.  But  remember,  that  those  precious 
fruits  flill  not  into  the  lap  of  the  idle  passer-by,  who  strolls  to 
linger  a  moment,  and  casts  but  the  wishful  glance ; — but  can 
be  gathered  by  him  alone  who  strives  to  secure  them  with  such 
friends  as  Diligence  and  Yirtue,  that  rarely  fail  of  their  objects. 
Remember  what  Cicero  has  truly  said,  in  his  essay  on  old  age, 
"  Youth  is  the  vernal  season  of  life,  and  the  blossoms  it  then 
puts  forth  are  indications  of  those  future  fruits  to  be  gathered 
in  succeeding  periods,"  Remember  too  what  Aiken  makes 
virtue  to  say  in  one  of  his  beautiful  allegories,  "I  cheer  the  cot- 
tager at  his  toil,  and  inspire  the  sage  at  his  meditation :  I  min- 
gle in  the  croAvd  of  cities,  and  help  the  hermit  in  his  cell ;  I 
have  a  temjole  in  every  heart  that  owns  my  influence,  and  to 
him  who  wishes  for  me  I  am  ever  present.  Science  may  raise 
thee  to  eminence:  I  alone  can  guide  thee  io  felicity  ^  Start  well 
in  the  race  here,  and  the  goal  will  the  more  surely  be  reached 
hereafter.  Time  was  when  a  stripling  youth  was  seen  here  on 
this  same  hill,  struggling '  with  his  compeers  for  the  modest 
prize  of  the  College  honors.  Stern  morality  tempered  liis  am- 
bition ;  diligence  bore  him  through  in  triumph ;  parental  smiles 
and  greeting  friends  cheered  him  as  he  was  decked  with  the 
Universit}^  honors.  Time  passed  on.  A  vast  multitude  throng 
the  Eastern  Portico  of  the  Capitol  of  the  Repubhc.  Fashion 
and  wealth,  the  curious  and  the  gay,  the  great  men  and  wise 
of  the  land  are  there.  For  a  moment  solemn  stillness  pervades 
that  assembly ;  then  the  air  is  rent  with  the  shouts  of  rejoicing ; 
for  a  great  people  have  just  placed  upon  the  brows  of  a  states- 
man  the  highest  honors  of  the  proudest  Republic  on  earth ! 
Let  the  aspiring  student  learn  and  be  encouraged  by  the  inte- 
resting truth,  that  that  statesman  was  the  stripling  boy,  who  be- 
gan by  mnning  his  first  honor  at  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  and  ended  by  wearing  that  of  a  mighty  Republic. 


19 


Gentlemex   of  the  GRAnuATiNfi   Class — 

To  3'ou  this  is  a  peculiarly  interesting  occasion.  From  this 
quiet  seat  of  learning  you  have  been  long  wont  to  gaze  on  the 
great  world  before  you  as  a  Landscape,  and  young  imagination 
hath  been  busv  and  lertilo  in  robing  it  with  brightness. 
Through  the  dim  twiliglit  of  fancy  things  at  a  distance  have 
been  gleaming  on  jo\i  beautifully,  and  impulsive  ardor  hath 
often  fretted  in  impatience  under  wholesome  restraint  and  well 
meant  discipline.  Often  have  your  glad  hearts  leaped  with  joy 
in  anticipation  of  this  hour  of  emancipation  from  fancied  thral- 
dom. Well,  the  hour  has  at  last  come.  It  suits  not  my  taste 
to  stifle  the  pleasing  suggestions  of  hope,  and  bid  you  trem- 
blingly bcAvare  of  the  gTeen  verdure  and  the  rich  and  beautiful 
flowers  of  life— because,  forsooth,  of  the  piercing  thorns  and  bi- 
ting serpents  that  oft  lie  hid  in  rosy  ambush.  It  suits  not  rny 
taste  to  damp  your  ardor  at  the  outset,  because,  forsooth,  it  often 
happens,  that  many  a  wayfarer  before  you,  hath  become  faint 
and  feverish  under  the  burning  heat,  or  chilled  and  benumbed 
with  the  cold  and  storms  of  life.  I  prefer  on  this  occasion  the 
language  of  a  gifted  countrvman,  full  of  sentiment  and  truth 
and  beaut}':  "ZooZ;  not  ■monrnfnUy  into  the  ixist:  It  coynes  not 
hach  again.  Wisely  improve  the  present :  It  is  thine.  Go  forth 
to  ■meet  the  shadoicf/  future^  u-ithouffear,  and  ivith  a  manly  heart!'' 

"  Your  lot  is  given  you  in  a  land 
Where  busy  arts  are  never  at  a  stand; 
AVliere  science  points  her  telescopic  eye. 
Familiar  with  the  wonders  of  the  sky  ; 
Where  bold  inquiry,  diving  out  of  sight. 
Brings  many  a  pearl  of  truth  to  light ; 
Where  naught  eludes  the  persevering  quest 
That  fashion,  taste,  or  luxury  suggest." 


20 

The  arts,  science,  agriculture,  commerce,  liberty,  theology, 
all,  all  have  received  fresh  impulses.  The  human  family  seems 
animated  with  new  hopes,  the  human  mind  seems  inspired  with 
unwonted  vigor.  When  Franklin's  silken  chord  first  trembled 
with  electricity  the  world  was  startled  with  what  then  were  es- 
teemed the  grand  discoveries  of  that  gi-eat  intellect.  But  in 
your  day  the  lightning  is  made  our  common  news-carrier,  and 
is  managed  by  the  boys  to  dispatch  hasty  messages  between  re- 
mote cities.  When  Fulton  ventured  with  his  Steam  Engine 
along  our  rivers,  the  spectacle  amazed  many  a  wonderstruck 
beholder,  who  felt  in  his  heart,  that  it  was  tempting  Provi- 
dence thus  to  hazard  human  life.  But  in  your  day  proud 
steam-ships,  with  splendid  saloons  and  gay  pleasure  parties, 
plough  the  briny  ocean,  and  in  their  noisy  pomp,  seem  to  mock 
the  storm.  And  what  a  country  too  is  that  in  which  your  lot 
is  cast,  that  makes  us  all  glory  in  the  name  of  American  citi- 
zen,— that  makes  us  all  so  proud  of  the  past,  so  proud  of  the 
present,  so  hopeful  of  the  "  shadowy  future !"  Poetic  imagina- 
tion is  overtasked  in  the  effort  to  picture  its  real  grandeur ; — so 
changeful  the  scene,  so  rapid  the  transition,  so  Avonderful  its 
strides  from  infant  weakness  to  giant  manhood !  Once  a  mighty 
wilderness,  a  continent  of  unquelled  forests,  the  home  of  the 
fierce  savage  and  the  howling  panther ; — noio  a  beautiful  land  of 
cultivated  fields,  and  filled  with  Statesmen,  Orators,  and  Philos- 
ophers !  Once  a  modest  flag,  adorned  with  thirteen  stars,  affixed 
to  a  flag-staff  planted  between  the  mountains  and  the  Atlantic, 
waved  over  three  millions  of  American  freemen.  Noio  a  broad 
ensign,  bearing  on  its  ample  folds,  not  thirteen^  but  thirty  stars, 
nailed  to  a  flag-staff,  planted,  not  on  the  narrow  confines  between 
the  mountains  and  the  Atlantic,  but  on  the  mountains,  on  the 
valleys  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,  and  the  great  Gulf  of  the 
south — affording  protection  not  to  three  but  to  twenty  millions 
of  free  citizens  of  an  "  Ocean-bound  Republic !"  Of  other  lands 
poetic  prophecy  reveals  only  sad  visions  of  decay  and  downfall. 
British  genius  hath  already  written  of  our  father  land, — 

"  England,  like  Greece,  shall  fall  despoiled,  defaced, 
And  weep,  the  Tadmor  of  the  watery  waste. 


21 


The  wave  shall  iiK.ick  her  lone  and  inaiiless  slmrp. 
The  deep  shall  know  lier  IVeiiihted  wealtli  iki  more  ; 
And  unljiiru  wauderers  in  the  I'liture  v.'u(jd, 
Where  London  stands,  shall  ask  where  Lonilon  stood." 

But  if  American  sons  prove  vrortliy  of  American  sires ; — if  Ed- 
ucation be  truly  tlie  protectress  of  Liberty ; — if  time  and  Christi- 
anity, instead  of  elevating  and  blessing,  Lave  not  debased  man, 
— l/ours  is  the  land  whose  future  grandeur  and  magnificence 
will  continue  to  baffle  the  conceptions  of  the  wildest  imagina- 
tion.    We  read  in  sacred  history,  that  for  the  preservation  of 
the  human  family,  Noah  was  seen  constructing  an  ark.     The 
fancy  of  the  gifted  Headl}^  has  graphically  painted  the  scene, — 
that  as  the  huge  edifice  went  up,  "  The  farmer  returned  at  eve- 
ning from  his  field,  and  the  gay  citizen  of  the  town  drove  past 
and  christened  it   'Noah's  folly,'  and  the  Avorkmen  engaged 
upon  it  laughed  as  they  drove  the  nails  and  hewed  the  plank. 
But  when  the  terrible  storm  came — upborne  on  the  flood,  the 
heaven-protected  ark  rose  above  the  buried  cities  and  moun- 
tains, and  floated  away  on  the  shoreless  deep.     And  when  the 
deluge  was  stayed,  with  its  inmates  unharmed,  it  at  last  safely 
reposed  on  the  summit  of  the  sacred  mountain  Ararat."     We 
read  too  in  profane  history,  that  time  was  when  our  AVashing- 
•  ton  was  seen,  constructing  a  political,  a  republican  ark,  for  the 
final  protection  of  human  liberty.     When  with  his  sage  com- 
]  peers  he  was  rearing  the  novel  edifice,  and  constructing  it  of 
]  rafters  and  beams  of  Eepublican  simplicity  and  popular  free- 
I  dom,  titled  nobility  and  ribboned  pride  in  other  lands  mocked 
;aad  smiled  at  it  as  unfit  for  the  storms  that  would  surely  assail 
lit.     But  thus  far,  under  the  blessings  of  Providence,  amid  the 
i  terrible  events  that  ever  and  anon  have  crushed  the  rights  of 
man  elsewhere, — amid  angry  storms  and  the  wildest  billows  of 
party  rage — upborne  on  the  flood,  our  heaven-protected  ark  of 
Freedom  still  floats  on,  and  amid  the  tempests  at  their  darkest 
hour  there  has  still  continued  to  stream  from  it  a  steady  light 
to  cheer  and  gladden  and  encourage.     And  when  that  most 
terrific  of  temjoests  shall  come, — (which  may  God  in  his  mercy 
avert,) — when  domestic  fanaticism  or  party  madness  shall  rage, 


22 

—-wlien  the  voice  of  Patriotism  shall  for  a  moment  be  hushed 
amid  the  hoarse  clamor  of  discordant  factions — when  the  flood 
of  fraternal  strife  and  sectional  hostility  shall  for  a  moment 
deluge  the  land — still  may  we  not  chng  to  the  hope  of  the  Fa- 
tlier  of  his  country,  that  when  it  shall  please  heaven  to  stay  the 
storm,  our  ark  may  also  find  its  sacred  resting-place,  and  that 
may  he  on  tJie  glorious  Union  of  the  States?  But  while  a  patriot- 
ism should  be  cherished,  liberal  enough  and  comprehensive 
enough  to  embrace  our  country,  our  whole  country,' — while 
your  young  hearts  should  beat  with  proud  emotions  as  you  be- 
hold the  grand  yet  novel  spectacle  of  thirty  independent  States, 
moving  in  the  same  orbits  and  encircling  a  common  centre, — I 
trust  I  may  be  pardoned  on  this  occasion,  in  this  place,  at  this 
interesting  era  in  our  State's  history,  to  express  the  hope  and  to 
encourage  the  sentiment,  that  among  these  republican  planets 
that  move  thus  harmoniously  in  a  common  orbit,  there  is  one 
for  which  every  bosom  here  should  throb  with  peculiar  affec- 
tion,— one  that  is  entitled  to  a  place  in  our  "heart  of  hearts  ;" 
and  that  one  is  iV(»'^/i  Carolina/  Not  that  I  would  have  you 
love  your  whole  country  less,  but  North  Carolina  more. 

And  disguise  it  as  we  may — regret  it  as  we  should, — yet,  my 
friends,  is  there  not  too  much  of  reproachful  truth  in  the  sug- 
gestion now  not  unfrequently  uttered,  that  the  Statesmen  of 
North  Carolina,  gifted  as  they  have  been,  patriotic  as  they  ever 
are,  have  done  much  for  the  Union,  but  surely  not  much  for 
North  Carolina? — have  grown  pale  often 'at  the  midnight  lamp 
with  anxious  meditation  on  the  affairs  of  the  Union,  but  have 
rarely  wasted  or  seriously  impaired  their  mental  or  physical 
machinery  in  efforts  to  advance  the  prosperity  and  glory  of 
their  own  State  ? — have  electrified  masses  by  their  pompous  elo- 
quence on  matters  of  Federal  policy,  but  have  only  ventured 
now  and  then  to  timidly  breathe  forth  a  half-suppressed,  hesita- 
ting suggestion,  that  perha2:)s  something  should  be  done  to  save 
the  "good  Old  State;"  until  at  last,  when  a  youth  of  genius 
and  high  promise  starts  out  on  his  career,  clad  with  University 
honors,  how  often  do  parental  pride  and  affectionate  friend- 
ship intimate,  that  surely  he  will  not  remain  here,  but  will  seek 


23 

/lis  fortunes  in  some  more  ^Livuial  elime?  This  siioiild  n(_)t  be  so, 
.Vnd  the  part  you  act  in  tlie  I'liture,  (which  now  will  soon  be  the 
present  Avith  you,)  may  have  much  bearing  on  the  honor,  the 
prosperity,  and  rejoiitation  of  your  State.  S/udy  u:ell  her  cJuir- 
ader — -ham  icellher  u/aufs.  Still  in  her  jxtst  history  there  is  not 
a  little  to  excite  your  pride ;  in  her  present  condition,  much  to 
animate  and  encourage.  tStill  we  may  be  proud,  that  the  bright- 
est page  in  our  national  history  that  recites  the  thrilling  story 
of  American  Independence,  must  also  tell  to  future  generations, 
that  its  birth-place  was  North  Carolina.  >StiU  you  will  find  that 
her  people  haye  one  crowning  virtue,  called  viier/rity,  that  makes 
them  happy  at  home,  and  honored  abroad.  jSlill  we  have  fer- 
tile fields,  beautiful  streams,  a  healthful  climate,  and  a  mountain 
scenery  as  grand  and  lovely  as  the  pencil  of  nature  hath  ever 
sketched  in  any  land.  And  if  you,  who  gather  your  earliest 
lessons  here  from  her  own  bount}-— if  ?/o?/.  be  true  to  A er,  true  to 
yourselves — ^you  may  yet  do  much  to  aid  her  to  make  a  gener- 
ous struggle  with  her  proud  sisters  in  the  race ;  if  she  be  not 
the  swiftest,  the  gayest  and  the  richest,  she  may  yet  be  honored 
and  admired  for  her  cheerful  face  and  her  sterling  qualities. 
Keep  bright  the  mental  armory  furnished  yon  here:  it  will 
serve  you  good  part  in  many  an  intellectual  conflict  hereafter. 
^ Look  not  mournfully  into  the  past:  It  comes  not  bach  again. 
Wisely  improve  the  present:  It  is  thine.  Go  forth  to  meet  the 
shadowy  future^  icithout fear^  and  ivith  a  manly  heart," 


■^ 


